Innnnnnteresting ....

[veronica_rich]

Supposedly, according to McCain campaign staffers, Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent, not a country, and she was guilty of other asorted dumbnesses. Let's break this down:

In defense of the woman - and I cannot believe the text is coming from my fingertips - I know more than one smart person who has made this initial mistake. Including me. Not in the lasting, insistent sense - "Uh huh! Yes it is! South Africa's part of one country!" - but in the initial, unthinking sense when the topic first comes up. Because I've known since I was in at least the fourth grade that there are various and assorted countries in Africa. All I'm saying is, if you've ever heard anyone toss off "the country of Africa" before thinking, or someone reminding them "it's not a country, dummy" and then they go "what'd I say? oh shit, I wasn't thinking" - yeah. So, is this what the staffers are exaggerating? Or is it a case of her insisting it IS a country even after someone says "um ... it's not one country?"

Because I have to say - George Bush went to Yale and Harvard, and frankly, I think he's about as dumb as an actual president can get. (Not knowing the philosophical differences between Sunnis and Shi'ites before going to war is WAY worse than a slip of the tongue on Africa, IMO.) And while his lack of intelligence has been lampooned, spread out over eight years, the fact is that it took a lot longer than three months for people to start pointing and laughing at it. So why with Palin?

Is it - again, I have to wonder at this coming from ME - because she's a woman? Because it very well could be. (Bit of a lesson to the casual fandom pheminists out there: THIS is the sort of shit feminism was REALLY invented to combat. Not your crocodile tears over a fictional character not getting the right man.) Make no mistake about Palin - I don't want her anywhere NEAR my White House, now or in the future - but there are plenty of things to legitimately criticize about her besides lack of geographical knowledge IF it's just being exaggerated as I reference above. (And I suspect this may well be the case. I don't think the woman's the sharpest tack in the corkboard, but I really question if she's THAT ignorant.)

And if she is that ignorant? Well, it's not the fact she's being criticized for it, because certainly basic geographical knowledge is important. It's HOW she's being criticized. (See previous paragraph.) Certainly the electorate has the right to know, just as they should be cautious when listening to her tell a third-grader about the duties of a vice president and getting it out of whack. All I'm saying is, let's watch how we do it, and maintain a healthy skepticism about the extremity of her reported "ignorance." (If she were truly that dumb, wouldn't we be hearing about something far more egregious than the Africa thing? That's what makes me suspicious.)

Comments

[ellie-pierson.livejournal.com]

The thing I found most annoying, was surprisingly not Mrs. Palin, but how the press latched onto the fact that the Republican party had spent $150,000 on her clothing. Why is that important? Would they have ever considered making a comment about how much they spent on a male canidates wardrobe?? Was it to push home the fact that she is just an average mom?

[justawench.livejournal.com]

I think they latched onto that because it was completely in violation of the 2002 McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act:

SEC. 313. USE OF CONTRIBUTED AMOUNTS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES.
(a) PERMITTED USES-

...
(b) PROHIBITED USE-

(1) IN GENERAL- A contribution or donation described in subsection (a) shall not be converted by any person to personal use.

(2) CONVERSION- For the purposes of paragraph (1), a contribution or donation shall be considered to be converted to personal use if the contribution or amount is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense of a person that would exist irrespective of the candidate's election campaign or individual's duties as a holder of Federal office, including--

(A) a home mortgage, rent, or utility payment;
(B) a clothing purchase;
(C) a noncampaign-related automobile expense;
(D) a country club membership;
(E) a vacation or other noncampaign-related trip;
(F) a household food item;
...


I think in the context that it flew in the face of everything McCain was supposed to stand for, it was a very important indication of her character.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

*nod* All this, plus it shows a flagrant inability for proper use even of improper use - if that makes sense (suits for her? No, but maybe. Clothes for her family? NO, definitely). And, it indicates she can't live within the means set down for her ... like in a federal budget.

[the-dala.livejournal.com]

Campbell Brown said the same thing, and I disagree with her. It's important because the money came from campaign donations. Cindy McCain's Oscar de la Renta dresses probably cost five times as much as one of Palin's designer suits, but she paid for them out of her own pocket. Same goes for McCain's Italian loafers and Obama's expensive suits. In a time of financial crisis, it was extraordinarily bad PR and the campaign should never have allowed the story to break like that.

[gryphons-lair.livejournal.com]

Actually, it was (barely, technically) legal because it didn't come from campaign donations to McCain. It came from RNC funds, which aren't controlled by the same rules McCain's war chest was.

But it was still a stunningly bad PR move.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Actually, it turns out it was more than $150,000. No average mom spends that much on clothes in a lifetime, for herself.